Tale of the Fifth
by CannedDork
Summary: This a chapter of a story about a new ninja, Kizu Makihige, and his cell, Team 5. It chronicles their adventures from becoming a genin, a year before the canon story, to the Fourth Shinobi World War. Expect run-ins with familiar favorites and new heroes and villains. Long story short, it's one fanfic out of many, but I think it's written pretty well and I hope you'll like it.


CHAPTER 1: A Fight for Sore Eyes

_Thwap! _The air crackled as the boy started his transformation. Blue light swirled around his body, and somebody standing ten feet away could have felt the tension surrounding him. He groaned with effort, the force of his will giving him a nosebleed. Suddenly, he sprouted up, growing to the size of a tall adult. His skin changed from a pale tan, becoming a hazelnut-like color. A slit ran across his face, as though made by some invisible knife. His hair, normally black, lightened to brown. The boy's clothing transformed along with him, turning into a black jumpsuit, covered by a heavy jacket. He grinned at the man standing before him, brandishing a long knife.

I yawned, brushing strands of blond from in front of my eyes. Sitting in the hot lecture hall of the Academy, I wished that the graduation tests would hurry up. I looked down at the brand-new forehead protector in my lap, smoothing out the wrinkles in its fabric. The day hadn't been a waste, despite my impatience. After all, it's only once that you become a genin, a full-blown ninja. And as Iruka-sensei gave the last student his forehead protector, I looked around the room at my peers, all of the new Leaf Ninja. In the row before me sat Adele Guren, whom we all considered a genius. He topped most of the class in grades, being surpassed only by the prodigal Neji Hyuga, sitting sullenly at the other end of the room. The Weapon Princess, Tenten sat behind him, fiddling with a kunai. Next to her was Hitari Sora, her face flushed as he gazed at her forehead protector. Three seats next to me was Rock Lee, the shinobi that knew no ninjutsu. His eyes looked damp from the joy of becoming a ninja, and he had his protector tied firmly around his forehead. And I, the continually lazy Kizu Makihige himself, fiddled with my protector before tying it around my thigh. As I did, the sleeve of my large sweater fell over my hand, covering up to my fingernails.

"Now, listen up!" Iruka-sensei, our chunin instructor, called out to the class. Even the most jaded student would know to perk their heads up and listen: this message was bound to be important. "All of you are now shinobi!" ("Even Lee," sniggered a boy in the back row.) "And as you know, all genin operate in four-man cells, headed by a jonin instructor. It is my job now to separate you into these teams. First team: Hyuga Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee!" The three looked around, mildly surprised. Neji and Lee caught each other's eye, both of them glaring at the other. "You three will meet your jonin instructor at the training field this afternoon, after class lets out. Next team…"

Iruka-sensei went through lists of cells, informing each in turn of their members and the location of their jonin instructors. My ears tuned out his words, until I heard _my _name being spoken. "Fifth Team: Guren Adele, Makihige Kizu, and Sora Hitari!" I looked at my newfound teammates. Adele stared forwards, seeming blankly, hand on his chin. Hitari looked between the two of us, cheeks red. "Your jonin instructor will meet you in front of Chikatzai Dumplings, in the heart of the town."

"So, how's it going with you two?" I struck up casual conversation with my two new teammates. Adele answered with a simple, "Good," and Hitari just shrugged and blushed. We were walking to Chikatzai Dumpling, observing many well-known landmarks on the way. At the time, we strolled past Yamanaka Flowers. The owner's daughter, a younger Academy student named Ino Yamanaka, stuck her head out of the open door. "Hello!" She called enthusiastically. "Would you like to come in and browse?"

"No, thank you," Adele called back, waving with a small smile. "We're pretty busy, and we don't really have the time." We walked on, and eventually we approached the shop. In the otherwise-empty square, a tall man sat with a large bucket of dumplings. Before our eyes, he grabbed an enormous handful and tossed them into his open mouth. Grease dripped onto his long green duster, and he smoothed back his unruly crimson hair with his free hand. He turned his head towards the three of us, and his eyes lit up. "Good gracious!" He boomed, beaming. "You three must be my new pupils!" The ground shook as he jumped from his seat, landing in front of us. Hitari squealed in fright, and even my eyes widened a bit. Oblivious, the man stuck out one greasy hand, which was about equal in size to Adele's face. I tentatively reached out and grasped it, my nervousness turning to surprise as my arm was shaken rigorously. "I'm Akatemai Kisaro, your new jonin instructor! Now, what are your names?"

"I-I'm Sora H-hitari… sir…" Hitari squeaked nervously. He stuck out her hand, which was quickly grabbed by our teacher. He released it after a quick shake, and smiled at the girl. She shrunk back, scared.

Adele approached next. He seemed to be less scared than Hitari, and even had a smile plastered onto his thin features. "Hello sir, my name is Guren Adele. It's a pleasure to meet you," He said calmly, placing his hand within shaking distance. Kisaro did likewise, and both grabbed the other's wrist. They shook speedily and cordially, and were finished. Adele and Hitari took a step back, leaving me to introduce myself.

"Hey, I'm Makihige Kizu," I smiled, brandishing my hand. "Cool to meet you." Kisaro took my hand in his again, and shook vigorously. "Likewise, kiddo!" He guffawed loudly, releasing my hand. I gave him a small grin, and backed up to stand next to my peers.

"Let's get to business." Kisaro-san's face grew serious. "You three have graduated the Academy, but your work isn't done yet. As you may know, each new genin needs to pass a secondary test. It's not going to be easy, and if you fail, you're hauled straight back to the Academy." Adele gulped loudly, and even I cringed at the thought.

Kisaro reached into his duster and whipped out three colored-handled kunai: one green, one red, and one blue. "Here's your test, kiddos!" His solemn face disappeared, being replaced by a large smile. With the kunai, he punctured three dumplings. Hitari tilted her head, and Adele scrunched one eye quizzically. "I'm gonna hide these kunai somewhere in the village, one for each of you. Hitari gets blue, Adele gets green, and red for Kizu. Each of you has to find your kunai _on your own_. If I catch you helping each other, you get sent back to the Academy. And as an added bonus, I'm gonna be hunting you down as you go for your kunai. You have two hours. Begin!" He flipped his duster and vanished.

"Wait, so what-" I started, looking at my teammates. They looked back; Adele seriously and Hitari meekly. At once, we all took off in separate directions.

Hitari cautiously turned the corner, peeking down the alley to make sure it was deserted. Walking down the street, she gingerly opened a nearby trashcan to check for her blue-hilted kunai. No luck. Replacing the lid, she continued her walk. Unbeknownst to her, two emerald eyes peeked at her from a close by window.

Adele strolled casually down the street, waving at a passing Academy student. The student in question flipped his long black hair tetchily and glared at Adele. _'Sheesh, that Uchiha Sasuke sure is one angry soul.' _Adele thought to himself. He kept his eye out for any indication of his green-handled kunai.

"Gah!" I yelled, blocking a strike from Kisaro. Atop the Hokage's mansion, our instructor had found me about to dig my kunai out of the ground. It was only by some divine providence that I had managed to block this surprise punch. The man was well-versed in taijutsu. I tried to throw in a punch, but he grabbed my arm with ease and twisted it behind my back.

"Beginner mistake, son!" Kisaro laughed, putting pressure on my arm. "Now, if it were my inclination, I could snap your arm like a toothpick!" He released his hold on me, pushing me to the edge of the rooftop. He dashed over to where I was, pushing me down in such a way that my neck dangled off of the edge. He brought in his face close to mine, and I could feel his deep ocean-blue eyes pulling me in. _'He's hitting me with genjutsu!' _I realized,my eyes snapping open. Struggling to resist, I flopped around like a fish out of water, trying to escape my mentor's grasp. Chuckling, he quickly released me. With one last mighty squirm… I managed to fall off of the roof.

After a long free-fall, I crashed into the roof of a building. The brittle wood broke under the force of my landing, and I was submerged in some sort of pool. I struggled to get my head above the water. As my head broke the surface, I heard a loud, piercing screech. I rubbed the water out of my eyes to see a tall female leaf genin with pretty features, about my age, in the room with me. This would be fine, but the situation was made bad by the fact that she was completely naked. Then it hit me: I had crashed into the girl's side of the Konoha Hot Springs. Blood filled my nose, and was then expelled violently, sending me crashing back under water. The girl scrambled frantically to find a towel, covering her chest with her arm. I diverted my eyes after rising above the water again.

The worst part was, I recognized the girl. Her name was Kashikoi Ichuu, and she had been in my class at the Academy. She had been skilled in short-range weapon techniques, in the way that Adele had been skilled with genjutsu or me with taijutsu; in terms of weapon skill, she was second to only Tenten.

I felt that after this event, the best course of action was to leave quietly. If I tried to explain what had happened, I would stutter and make a fool of myself. But as I reached the doorway, I heard a loud throat-clearing behind me. I turned around, chuckling nervously.

There stood Ichuu, draped in a towel. Her foot was tapping on the tiled floor, and there was fire in her eyes. "Now," she said, steely-faced, "let's start from the beginning. Why are you in the girl's bath?"

"U-um, well, you see…" I started off badly. "T-there was a… with a jonin… and then eyes… and… you look lovely?" I attempted to bolster my lame excuse with a complement.

That was the wrong course of action, a message taught to me by the glowing red handprint on the side of my face a second later. "Let me start over," I smiled weakly, steeling my nerves. She raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk on her face. I started telling her all about meeting my jonin mentor, the test, and the battle. I could see her nodding at parts of my story, and her face seemed to soften slightly. When I finished my story, she mused thoughtfully. "Well, that's better," she said, smirking. "I'm still angry at you, but now I've got a better understanding of what happened." She slipped on her clothes under her towel, letting nothing show. "Oh," she added as an afterthought, "and if you ever try to see me naked for any reason again, you won't be having kids for a while. You know what I mean." She left the spring, a self-satisfied look on her face.

"I should have known he would've moved it," I sighed, standing at the now-barren roof of the HokageMansion. The red-handled kunai was gone, along with Kisaro and an hour of my time limit. I jumped down to the street, and started prowling for the new hiding place.

As I walked past Ichiraku Ramen, I saw a familiar face. "Yo, Adele!" I called, waving at my ramen-eating teammate. He looked up, with a smile and a wave back. "Hey, Kizu," he said coolly. "Have a seat!"

I sat on the chair next to him, putting my head down on the counter. After a quick rest, I looked up at him. "Hey, Adele? Did you already find your kunai?"

"Yeah," Adele said modestly, "about a half an hour ago. It was hanging from a tree in the training field." He pulled the green-hilted knife out of the pocket of his blue jacket. "Why do you ask? You got yours, right?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Um… yeah, obviously. In fact… no, I didn't." I sighed sadly. "I was about to grab it, but Kisaro got me first. Now I'm gonna fail, and have to pass the Academy again."

Adele cringed, a sad look on his face. "Well… it may be breaking the rules, but I think I can help a friend in need." He stood up, laying down money for his ramen.

"Dude, what… you'd do that?" I smiled gratefully, getting up after Adele. "You'd risk getting sent back to the Academy to help me out?"  
Adele paced out of the shop, waving my question off briskly. "Of course I would, we're teammates. Now hurry up, we only have forty-five minutes."

Forty minutes later, Adele and I walked past the weapon shop. "I give up!" Adele said exhaustedly, looking at me. "We've looked everywhere."

"Yeah," I sighed, depressed. "I guess I'm going to have to-" Suddenly, I stopped in place. My eyes were drawn to the weapon shop's sign, emblazoned with a painting of a kunai. "Adele… did we ever look in a _weapon shop?_" Not waiting for a response, I raced into the store.

There, on the counter! Embedded on the wooden counter, was a red-handled ninja knife. Running to it, I grasped it and pulled it from the wood. Flipping it, I grabbed it midair and grinned. "Hell, yeah!" My excitement led to profanity, but I was so excited I didn't care.

I strolled out, grinning. "Did you find it?" Adele asked, still panting. I held it out in front of him. He smiled tiredly and looked at the knife. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open at something behind me. I jumped around, and stood face-to-face with Kisaro and Hitari.

"So, you helped each other?" Kisaro asked coldly. "Even after my express orders against doing that?"

"W-what… no!" I stammered, arms flailing. "I just met him out here, right this moment!"

"T-that's right, sir." Even Adele was noticeably nervous. "I was walking past the store, and I spotted Kizu at the counter." He smiled nervously. "Honestly."

Kisaro just sneered. "You just happened to walk past the store while he was there? I'm sure. Well, it's a good thing you pass anyways."

Adele and I snapped our heads up, shocked; even Hitari was noticeably surprised. "What?" We said at once, questioningly.

Kisaro just chuckled. "This wasn't a test of your abilities, as you believed. It was a test to see if any of you would work as a team, despite direct orders! All jonin instructors give this kind of test to new recruits! Hitari had no need for help, as she managed to get by me _and_ find her kunai, and Adele found his in record time; but it seems Kizu needed some assistance, huh?" He laughed again at my bashful grin. "In fact, you get added points for trying to hide your deception from the enemy! That's how a shinobi does it! I'm glad to say that all of you passed! And as your reward, each of you can keep the kunai."

Hitari's eyes widened, Adele looked shell-shocked, and I just laughed. We were officially ninja!


End file.
